Posts Tagged ‘Parable’

Mr. Keats stood at the front of the class staring intently into the eyes of his students. He had a larger than life personality. He was dramatic and convincing. His colleagues said he missed his true calling.

“We’re going to begin the year with arithmetic,” Mr. Keats announced to the first grade class.

Lauren smiled to herself, very pleased with the topic of study. All of that time spent with her mom in grocery stores and baking during the summer was going to pay off. Mr. Keats turned his back to the class and scribbled on the board. His arms swooshed in large motions, the grains of chalk pressed against the blackboard like mortar and pestle. He dropped the chalk in its silver tray sending a puff of dust into the air and turned to face his class.

He looked out over the sea of faces. Some of them smiled up at him, but more than half sat stunned. The students exchanged glances with one another. Lauren sat at the front of the class and stared at the equation on the board (1+1=3). Her eyebrows furrowed.

“How can that be?” Lauren asked herself. She thought about raising her hand. Maybe Mr. Keats had made a mistake. Her heart began pounding. The sound flooded her ears until it was all she could hear. Lauren never really spoke up in class. She clenched her hands into fists. Her palms started to sweat and her nails dug deeper into her moist skin. She drew in a few deep breaths to calm herself, but it did not work. Time ticked away. Her stomach twisted and dropped as if caught in a free-fall. She quickly abandoned the thought of speaking up. Maybe someone else would do it. Maybe someone else would risk looking like a fool in front of the entire class. She sat fidgeting at her desk and growing more and more anxious. Mr. Keats made no attempt to correct the equation. Lauren’s confidence was tumbling like an avalanche. No one in the class made a move to ask the question. Was she the only one?

Her voice went off like a siren in her head. “Would somebody please raise their hand!”